the Amorphism of Solid Bodies. 273 



can be united by juxta-position, to produce a substance whose 

 form is not reconcileable with the forms of these molecules, or how 

 the form of the one can unite with that of the other ; that further, 

 on this supposition, the production of generically distinct forms 

 by the union of the same substances in different quantitative re- 

 lations is like dimorphism, absolutely incapable of explanation. 

 Accordingly, I cannot support such a view, but, on the contra- 

 ry, am of opinion that bodies uniting chemically must previous- 

 ly lay aside their form, and then with each other assume the new 

 form to which they have the tendency, or to which they become 

 disposed by the new product of the powers residing in them ; 

 and I am so much the more inclined to believe this, because 

 crystallization like a repulsive force, acts against the chemical 

 union of bodies, and must therefore be removed when the com- 

 bination begins. Deformation, therefore, as already remarked, 

 must precede every chemical union, and only by the substances 

 going through a condition where form is absent, can they give 

 their individuality to the chemical product, and in that product, 

 assume a new form and acquire altogether new properties which 

 partly, as we know, stand in inseparable union with the form. 



Every inorganic body must, in my opinion, lay aside its form 

 when it enters the organic kingdom and becomes assimilated to 

 an organic body. CrystalHzation and Life are absolutely incom- 

 patible with each other, and whenever a substance in an organic 

 bodv becomes crystalline, it at the same moment becomes a mem- 

 ber of the inorganic kingdom. The crystal is, as it were, the 

 boundary stone between the organic and the inorganic kingdoms, 

 and we may with propriety term the last, to which many bodies 

 derived from the first belong, the kingdom of crystallization. 

 Accordingly all inorganic substances which are taken up by an 

 organic body and go through it, in so far as they are constituent 

 parts of the same, and are under the dominion of the vital power, 

 must be without form. This is proved to us more particularly 

 by silica, which is one of the best nourishing substances for most 

 plants, and which is often separated and given out from parti- 

 cular plants, viz. from species of Bamboo, as a jelly-like mass — 

 as a true opal — and is called tabashir. It is probable that plants 

 take up more easily the substances of the mineral kingdom which 

 are necessary or l)eneficial for tht'in, and that they flourish better 



